DOV2018: Honey Salt, delightful lunch

Restaurant: Honey Salt (visit their website here)

Location: 39 Smithe Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: Canadian, Seafood
Dineout Price: $25 for lunch; $40 for dinner

Date of visit: January 19, 2018
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4.5/5
Food variety: 3/5
Food quality: 5/5
Buck worthy? 5/5

So excited for our first Dine Out of the season! I chose this classy lunch location for a date with Adorables to start! Located in Parq Vancouver, it is easily accessible through the entrance of the JW Marriot. There are various themed seats from regular tables to sofas and lounge chairs, a very comfy casual feel. They're offering a $25 lunch and $40 dinner menu for Dine Out Vancouver.

Adorables ordered a Sweet Tea ($5.00) to start, I found this a little bland but he enjoyed it.

Appetizers

Burrata & Heirloom Beets charcoal-roasted beets, arugula, honey vinegar

In presentation, this dish was quite nice, salad topped with a generous portion of burrata. The salad itself was nicely coated in the honey vinegar and contrasted well with the gooey rich burrata cheese. Some of the beets were a little too burnt for my liking but the beet itself was tender and sweet. Overall the burrata was too overpowering and the imbalance made this dish underwhelming.

Tofino Fry calamari, sidestripe shrimp, lemon, peppers & spicy Japanese "kewpie" mayonnaise
We were both impressed with the generous portion size of this dish. The simple yet elegant presentation caught my eye. The batter was light and flavorful, went well with the calamari and shrimp. Peppers were a little overcooked; the lemon had a great unique crunch and wasn't overly tart. Paired with the mild and tart mayonnaise, this was a well rounded dish.

Entrees

Biloxi Buttermilk Fried Chicken creamy slaw, durkee's dressing, brioche & nice little salad

Honestly, I expected something a lot different than what was presented to us. Nonetheless, it was presented as a burger with three nice crispy pieces of chicken nestled between a delicious brioche bun paired with a small salad.

The chicken was tender, crispy, and seasoned well but a little dry. The creamy slaw made good presence in the burger. However, the mustard in the dressing was a bit overwhelming in some parts. Little side salad consisted of romaine lettuce, carrots, radicchio, and a very tart dried berry (unsure what it was, guessing barberry or cranberry) in a nutty cream-based dressing. Very pleasing.

Poke Bowl BC albacore, green chili ponzu, avocado, cucumber, tobiko & black rice
Surprisingly, this was the highlight of the meal for me. This was visually appealing, elegant and colorful. They even went the extra mile to make rice crispies out of black rice for added texture to the dish. The green chili ponzu was a nice balance of tart and creamy. Tuna was very fresh and such a generous portion that it overwhelmed the amount of rice present. Pleasantly surprised with the half avocado and pickled radish added extra color, crunch, and zest to the bowl. A delicious creation.

Desserts

Brown Bag Baked Apple Pie  ginger ice cream

We were both perplexed at the sheer size of desserts but we thoroughly enjoyed this succulent apple pie. It did come in a brown bag and opened at the table to reveal a nice pastry inside.

Big chunks of apple inside the pie and a buttery flaky crust topped with ice cream-- heaven in a spoonful! I didn't taste any ginger in the ice cream, felt like it was just plain vanilla ice cream (smooth and creamy though).

Warm Apple Cider Donuts bourbon & cinnamon sauce

After diving into the pie and nearing the brink of our stomach capacities, we split one of the three donuts. I didn't expect it to be so dense and a little dry, but with the sauce it was quite delicious. The sauce was like caramel with bourbon and cinnamon accents and enhanced the donuts.

I love how they placed it in a light blue bowl on a white plate because I'm a sucker for that color combination. Just perfect, they were nestled so snugly that I almost didn't want to take one.

Needless to say, we were both very stuffed after our meals and had to pack the remaining desserts to go. Service was attentive and warm, I did get the feeling they're still getting used to their roles and how the place is run. Our entrees appeared before our appies were done and cleared, which is uncommon practice for a higher-end establishment like this. Our waitress promptly noticed and apologized for the rush of dishes and explained that it sometimes happens during lunch, but of course I didn't even notice until she brought it up. We both enjoyed our date at Honey Salt and would definitely return-- especially for that delicious apple pie!

The cute book our bill came in!

Captain's Boil: Pricey but fresh!

A new Captain's Boil in Coquitlam! Much excite =D Since we got a coupon in the mail for a free pound of shrimp/mussels/clams, I've been itching to come!







Restaurant: The Captain's Boil (visit their website here)

Location: 1111 Ponderosa Street, Coquitlam
Cuisine: Seafood, Cajun/Creole, Asian Fusion
Price range: $20+/person




Date of visit: December 15, 2017
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 1.5/5
Food variety: 2/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

Found some time to bring my parents to try, we waited about 15 minutes for seats. They cover their table with a paper sheet and have plastic bibs and gloves placed on the table.

They have a simple menu with seafood, flavor, and heat.

Look at the cute sailor bibs!

Anyhow, I wanted to try the clams, but they had just run out *cries* so we ended up with two items with the same flavor. First to arrive was our Mussels in a bag ($13/lb) in mild garlic sauce. I found it quite spicy already, loved the strong garlic though. If only it weren't so salty! Mussels were fresh and felt like more than one pound. There were 16 nicely sized mussels in the bag.

The downer of the meal was the Fish Dinner ($10.95), otherwise known as Teriyaki Fish on their menu. It comes on a sizzling plate with white rice and deep fried fish. The fish was salty and dry inside a thick layer of batter which was made even drier by the hot plate. It came with soy sauce for the rice. Not a big portion of rice. But to be fair, they're not known for their sizzling plates.

And then finally we ordered the King Crab (seasonal price, tonight it was $44.95/lb). I was impressed with the one leg that came in a bag, the garlic sauce didn't quite touch the leg but that's ok, we just opened it to dip. I expected a frozen leg but this was fresh and the meat was nice and flush to the shell. A giant leg, succulent flesh, it was moist and meaty.

Look at the size of it in my hand (it's de-shelled!)

And this was the damage, they claim to use biodegradable bags, so kudos to them! I really don't hope to see all this waste end up polluting the oceans =(

Alas, it was a pricey meal but satisfying. Service is a bit slow, but the servers were friendly. I know people are complaining about the paper/plastic cups and lack of true utensils, but perhaps they're forgetting the fun of eating with our hands-- which I feel is the reason why I'm paying so much money to eat at The Captain's Boil in the first place!

Jimoco: Unfresh seafood, delicious pasta, small portions

I remember coming here many years ago and the would be hour long lineups, but the place was near empty for Sunday lunch time. Odd. Maybe it's because it wasn't lunch time yet? (We were there at 12:30pm) anyways, no one greeted us at the front, and finally someone noticed as we walked in halfway to the counter and told us we'd be seated in a couple minutes.

Restaurant: Jimoco Café & Pasta (visit their website here)

Location: 1046 Austin Avenue, Suite A, Coquitlam
Cuisine: Italian, pasta, seafood
Price range: $20/person

Date of visit: December 10, 2017
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 2/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 1.5/5
Buck worthy? 1/5

Looking at the menu, prices have gone up by about $3-5 per dish, such was expected due to inflation and whatnot over the years. From the 2 for 1 menu we ordered 4 dishes for 5 people. First to arrive was the Risotto Al Frutti Di Mar ($21.95) with rose sauce (you can choose from tomato, rose, cream, wine, or curry). It was a pretty small portion if it weren't 2 for 1. The risotto was about 0.5 inches deep and although it tasted great, it definitely needed more cream to the rose. Tasted like plain tomato sauce. The mussels were hit or miss on freshness, some of them have definitely gone bad.

Next was the Linguine Al Frutti Di Mar ($20.95) in white wine sauce. Portions got smaller for this one, definitely not like the pictures on the menu. The was about a cups' worth of pasta on the plate. There were scallops, mussels, clams, and shrimp in this dish. The flavors were great and noodles cooked al dente. Again, the shellfish was not fresh, tasted fishy and smelled pungent.

Then the Fusilli Alla Lucana ($22.95) arrived a little on the burnt side. Interesting presentation since it's covered with pizza dough on top, which helped keep the dish warm while we finished the others first. At this point I didn't understand why they used such large plates if they were only going to fill them 1/3 or halfway because it just looks bad. Anyways, only dish that wasn't seafood, the sausage and pasta was decent. Pizza dough was very dense and although interesting in design, felt disconnected to the whole dish.

Last was the Linguine Soul Bianco ($21.95). Last time I came here I got the Linguine Soul which is the spicy tomato base, but I wanted to try something new, the Bianco is a white seafood sauce base. This was very delicious with fragrant herbs and succulent seafood sauce infused in the pasta as it bubbled in front of us. Unfortunately the mussels and clams weren't all fresh, more than half were inedible.

It's sad to see such a great restaurant come to this. The flavors and execution were amazing, but subpar staff, ingredients weren't fresh, and portions were tiny. I was disappointed and unsatisfied with my revisit. I guess good things don't last forever :(
 

Yoon's Kitchen: New Korean Fusion in the neighborhood!

Seeing Sushi & Roll close down was disheartening to me, since I did enjoy their food, but seeing a new Korean restaurant in this area was equally exciting (I think it just opened this month, not even Yelp/Zomato official yet!). There aren't many Korean joints around this location, so it's a wonderful addition (I hope they can continue and stay!).



Restaurant:  Yoon's Kitchen

Location: 3017 St. John's Street
Cuisine: Korean, Japanese, Asian fusion
Price range: $20+ per person




Date of visit: November 29, 2017
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4.5/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

The place was pretty empty when we got there around 6pm, 3 tables of people. We were greeted warmly and seated promptly. The place looked clean and neat. I guess the fusion part is that they still offer some Japanese sushi.

First to arrive was the Bossam ($18.99) which is a boiled pork belly dish with sauce and wrapped in greens. The pork was nicely marbled and seasoned well. The napa cabbage it came with was crisp and contrasted well with the soft, melt-in-your-mouth pork belly. I'm not sure what the spicy dish was but it tasted like radish, and added crunch and flavor to the bite. Side dishes weren't remarkable, there was kimchi, bean sprouts, zucchini slices, and a ball of sweet mashed potato.

I couldn't resist getting a sushi roll and I love scallops so I got Under the Sea ($6.95). This is a torched spicy chopped scallop roll with surprise cream cheese. I say surprise because it wasn't a listed item on the menu. Overall the taste was average, fresh scallops were overwhelmed by the cream cheese and sauce. I wish they had went easy on the spicy sauce, otherwise a well made roll.

Can't forget the Korean style rolls so we settled on the original Gyori Kimbab ($5.25) with fried egg, spinach, crabmeat, fishcake, pickled radish, burdock, and carrot. This was the only dish that was good bang for its buck. The roll was quite large in comparison the the previous and although simple, the flavors went well together and in good proportion. I enjoyed this quite a bit!

Onto hot foods! We got their Soon Dubu Jjigae ($11.99)--otherwise known as soft tofu stew. We chose the mix, which included seafood and beef. Considering how much I'm paying for it, I was disappointed with the quality of this. It wasn't as rich as I'd had at other places and a little on the salty side. No egg went with it either.

The rice that accompanied the dish was really well made though, and they pour cold water (which the waitress leaked all over my jacket and didn't notice, but we'll let that slide) over the hot stone bowl with the remaining rice to make a soft rice stew thing. The pot was so hot it boiled out of the pot!

Silly us, we got another rice dish, the Hot Stone Bibimbab ($12.99) had mixed veggies, beef, and an egg atop rice. Bowl was big but the ingredients only filled half the bowl, which kinda makes it look bad. It tasted good though! The hot stone kept the rice warm for the duration of our meal and we got crispy rice at the end, one of my dad's favorite parts of the meal!

Before we got our bill, the waitress brought us a sweet rice drink (on the house). I hear that rice water brightens and whitens the skin, so maybe this is the secret to how Koreans maintain their beautiful complexions! Anyways, it was a light sweet drink and quite nice to end the meal. My mom thought it was a little too sweet for her liking.

Overall, I enjoyed the meal. The food was above average and flavors were great. Service was friendly and almost the right amount (sometimes it was hard to find anyone since there's only two people running the front). Not that great quantity-to-price-wise because this isn't Vancouver, people will expect more food for the same price since there's a lot of competition around with equal quality and price but more quantity-- people want good food for a good price. Alas, they're still pretty new, I don't even know when they officially opened (or maybe they're not), a good location for them though and I see a lot of potential!

Pokéworks: Fresh Poke-- works for me :D

We were touring some relatives from out of town downtown and I've had a couple friends talk about another new poke place in Vancouver, so we headed over to Pokéworks so they could try poke! Conveniently located within walking distance of the convention center (it's basically beside Chewies, entrance faces Cordova), it was a prime location that wasn't too crowded.

Restaurant: Pokéworks (visit their website here)

Location: 150-1021 West Hastings Street
Cuisine: Poke, Hawaiian
Price range: ~$15-20 (Depends on how many add-ons and size)

Date of visit: October 16, 2017
Atmosphere: 5/5
Staff/service: 5/5
Food variety: 4.5/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 4/5

It wasn't a busy time when we visited (around 4pm on a Monday), and greeted promptly by staff. They had the typical poke setup, with proteins first, then veggies and other toppings after. I ordered two large bowls ($13.50) from their signature works menu. There is an option to create your own bowl too.

I got the Hawaiian Classic and chose extra kale, diced mango, edamame, cucumber, sweet onion, crab salad, masago, seaweed salad, seasame seeds, and onion crisps, garlic crisps, and shredded nori from their crunch items (all included in price). The ahi tuna was fresh, didn't taste fishy, and went well with their classic sauce. Maybe I was greedy and got too many toppings but I felt there wasn't enough rice to compliment the ingredients.

The second bowl I got was the Shiso Salmon and again, I added most of the above ingredients on top. Personally not a fan of wild salmon, so I enjoyed the fresh farmed fatty salmon. I could feel it was fresh since it had nice bite to it, not mushy at all! Went great with the fresh ponzu sauce! Again, I felt more rice would've made for a more filling meal, but I want those greens to make myself feel healthier =D

Overall, the bowls were huge and full of good quality ingredients. I've been to a Seattle location and Pokéworks offers a good price for what you get, especially considering it's a prime downtown location. Staff were friendly and quick. I hope they can keep up the good work and continue improving! (Had a friend go and her order was completely wrong, staff working at that time had no clue what was going on)